Group requests Pres. honor his 2010 Binational Agreement to Protect the Big Bend

On February 20, the Big Bend Conservation Alliance (BBCA) launched a petition asking President Obama to help stop the Trans-Pecos Pipeline, a project the group claims will be the greatest threat in the region’s history. The Alliance’s goal is to collect 100,000 signatures in 30 days—the minimum threshold for reaching the President’s desk.

The Trans-Pecos Pipeline, a 42-inch natural gas transmission line, is slated to run 143 miles through the heart of the pristine Big Bend to provide fracked gas to Mexico. Although the company will be taking property from Big Bend landowners, the pipeline is unlikely to serve a single U.S. customer says the Alliance.

The petition asserts that the pipeline will open the region to oil and gas infrastructure, damage intact desert grasslands, destroy ancient archeological sites, and waste the region’s precious water resources.

The Alliance cites Obama’s 2010 Binational Agreement with Mexico where he pledged to protect the region as “one of the largest and most significant ecological complexes in North America” and to restrict development in recognition of its “extraordinary biological diversity.”

“Obama’s Binational Agreement with Mexico underscores the uniqueness of this region,” said BBCA executive director Mattie Matthaei. “It’s not a claim we make lightly. The Obama administration clearly recognizes the value of this region and we expect him to uphold his promise to protect it.”

For more information, contact BBCA executive director Mattie Matthaei at 432-295-2913 or mattiebbca@gmail.com.